'Net Features : box.net

Time to Start Thinking Inside the Box?

Michael Garrity — Sun, 27 May 2012 22:00:00 GMT

Box, considered by many to be the most underrated name in cloud computing, just released a handful of new features aimed at enterprise customers. So, if you haven’t checked it out yet, now may be the time give Box a look.

Among the recent additions are the ability to search for files across the whole company, a dashboard with more controls for administrators, mobile security options (e.g. passcode locks), multiple email domain support, activity notification archiving and an enterprise licensing agreement (ELA).

All of these features were included to help large-scale organizations more easily manage bigger, company-wide Box deployments at a scale that wasn’t possible before. This will make pesky issues like regulatory compliance go more smoothly.

Plus, the new ELA means that Box customers will get more predictable pricing when the precise size of their teams changes, as opposed to paying on a seat-by-seat basis.

Think Inside the Box with Enterprise App System

Michael Garrity — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:00:00 GMT

It’s time for enterprise-level companies to starting thinking inside the Box. Specifically, the cloud services company of the same name, which has just released numerous enterprise-class applications that will use a Box.net cloud-based workspace and create a “virtual desktop” around it. This new app system is called Box OneCloud.

The idea is an attempt to position Box to be a major force in the post-PC world by establishing a cross-platform cloud system that lets users create and edit all of their files from within the cloud. OneCloud will be the first mobile framework built for enterprises that brings together mobile content and the applications designed to work with it.

The new solution comes in the form of four premiere apps for the iPad that are meant to represent best-in-class functionality and implement a round-trip connection to Box. When a file is edited or modified outside of the system, it can be saved back to Box in its original location.

These apps include the following features:

- QuickOffice allows users to edit Word, PowerPoint and Excel documents on-the-go, with any important changes that are made automatically saved back to the Box account.

- PDF Expert from Readdledocs is for adding annotations to documents by drawing, highlighting or making notes on the files, and then saving them back to Box where the changes can be viewed by the whole team.

- PaperPort Notes lets users record ideas and to-do items while they’re out and about with tools like voice dictation and recording, for when sitting down and typing is just not an option.

- Finally, Adobe’s popular EchoSign e-signature platform helps with signing crucial documents electronically with the greatest of ease, as they can be opened, signed and sent back all from an iPad.

All of these apps will be directly tied to an enterprise’s Box account, making files accessible to anyone within the organization. To find more compatible apps, users can open a file in Box and click the cloud logo on the top menu. A dropdown menu will appear and list all of the compatible apps installed on the device; it also features a button that will let users add compatible apps that aren’t currently installed.

Best of 2011 - Cloud Services

Michael Garrity — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:00:00 GMT

It’s been written countless times that the cloud is the future of Web tech and will possibly be the most important investment most businesses make in the near future – especially enterprise companies.

Of course, there are those with strong (and valid) opinions on the subject, both in favor of cloud adoption and stringently against it. However, as the debate ensues, there are many companies in the industry providing great services to customers of various sizes and requirements.

2011 saw Internet empires and hungry young companies alike playing a crucial role in the development of cloud technologies and, more importantly, services. Here are five of the best cloud service providers from the past 12 months.

Amazon Web Services
Most people just know Amazon as the online retail site, but Web professionals are aware of its other prominent role on the ‘Net as one of the largest cloud service providers available.

This may be a somewhat controversial choice seeing as the service has some highly-noted mishaps this past year, but nonetheless it remains a leading innovator in the industry, including adding a “white glove” service for premium customers that will route your calls (and concerns) to the nearest engineering specialist.

AWS will scale to meet the application demands of its clients, “whether one server or a large cluster,” offers a pay-as-you-go, low cost service, instantly deploys applications and allows for full open and flexible control of all of your data. Despite the blunders of 2011 (of which customers have understandable concerns), Amazon Web Services continues to be (one of?) the best cloud provider out there.

Box
Box is probably the busiest provider on this list. It has been constantly innovating its product over the last year, especially in mobile applications, and has been able to carve out a significant segment of the market as a result.

While it may be most popular as a personal consumer service, Box has accrued and impressive list of businesses and enterprise-level companies as customers, including Proctor & Gamble, Six Flags, Taylor Made, Pandora, Clear Channel, the San Francisco Giants and more.

Businesses are helped to a host of features in areas like content management with desktop syncing and link-based file sharing, mobile access on Android and iOS devices, online workspaces, a host of administrative controls and easy integration into existing business software like Google Apps, Salesforce and NetSuite, as well as offering APIs for custom integrations.

Rackspace
In terms of revenue generated, Rackspace trails only Amazon Web Services. While that’s not necessarily an indicator of competence, it does speak highly that so many users are willing to trust it over major brands like Microsoft and Google.

This year saw less in the way of innovation than most companies, the soft launch of OpenStack was notable and they released their impressive Hybrid Hosting option that provides both cloud and managed hosting in one service. Still, Rackspace has continued to impress with solid service and security; after all, there are currently over 100,000 companies currently working with Rackspace.

Rackspace’s on-demand scalable servers come with up to 30 GB of storage, only require businesses to pay for what they use, are fully-customizable with root access and are completed by the company’s “Fanatical Support.”

Dropbox
Many have at least heard of Dropbox, and it has long been one of the more heavily-utilized cloud service providers available. (For instance, my own list of Dropbox Alternatives suggests that it has become the standard for business and personal cloud computing.)

Like Box, Dropbox offers a really impressive mobile service that is compatible with Windows, Mac, Linux, iPad, iPhone, Android and Blackberry devices and still works even when the user is offline. The service also provides businesses with the ability to utilize the same tools they work with daily, get started in minutes, put all of their services on a single bill and manage and migrate accounts. Heck, you even get unlimited version history for all of your files hosted with Dropbox.

Evernote
If the opinions of tech industry insiders around the globe are to be trusted, it looks like Evernote may be the next big thing in cloud computing. What sets this product apart is that it is more of a note-taking and idea-saving service than a traditional cloud storage platform. The idea with Evernote is that users can save important ideas in “notebooks” and then retrieve these ideas later, which is made simple thanks to a search function and the ability to tag things you save.

It also has mobile compatibility, so you can access your ideas from almost any mobile device, as “Evernote works with nearly every computer, phone and mobile device out there.” What makes Evernote an especially convenient tool is that you can take notes everywhere you go and keep all of them in sync and readily available on any device you may use anywhere.

Cloud Platform Box.net Partners with HP

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:30:00 GMT

Cloud storage platform Box.net announced a partnership with HP today to bring the company’s offerings to select HP desktops.

Starting today, HP Elite and HP Pro desktop business PCs users have access to offers from Box that include increased storage capacity and enterprise synchronization for use in collaboration and content management in the cloud.

Users that purchase a new HP Compaq Pro 6500 or 6200 Series PC will receive a free Box account with 10 GB of storage – double the size of a typical Box account – with the option to upgrade to additional capacities at a reduced annual rate. Box.net is also offering those purchasing a new HP Elite 8200 Series PC a Box account with unlimited storage and sync at no cost for one year.

Box.net was listed in Website Magazine’s 50 Top Sites for Web Designers in March 2011.